Chowhounds Go Whole Hog at San Francisco’s Incanto

Incanto‘s Whole Pig Dinner was a special-order option at the San Francisco restaurant long before Chef Chris Cosentino broke out on food TV. Now that he’s nationally famous, a party from Chowhound revisited the special-order Whole Pig Dinner and reported back.

The four-course menu included antipasti from the restaurant’s spin-off Boccalone salumi label, salads of Little Gem lettuces or rucola, a roasted suckling pig carved tableside, vegetable side dishes, and two options for dessert. The 40-pound pig was tender, and came with a jus so rich and concentrated it could have been demi-glace (some intrepid diners even added it to their vanilla cake for dessert). Diner Peter Yee says the pig skin didn’t stay crisp for long, but the kitchen did return it to the oven to recrisp.

Cosentino is a famous champion of offal, and the table received a platter of ears, tongue, snout, cheek, and brains—the brains were especially good, with a creamy texture. Among the vegetables, young turnips dosed with chile added a welcome bit of bitterness and crunch. Parting bonus: take-home “piggy bags,” each containing a pound of meat.